Lindsay Ell’s Reaction to Her Double CCMA Nominations Is Beautiful

Lindsay Ell was pleasantly surprised to earn a CCMA Awards nomination in the Female Artist of the Year category. The "Criminal" singer was stunned to see her name pop up a second time.

"Oh my gosh," Ell shouts in the video below, taken at her parents' kitchen table, having just watched the first announcement next to her mother. "Mom, I got nominated for Album of the Year."

The Project was nominated alongside four other Canadian albums during the Canadian Country Music Association Awards nominee reveal last week. Ell filmed the moment, which (as Dustin Lynch knows) can be a good or bad idea. The whole thing turns really emotional when a sobbing Ell admits she was not expecting Album of the Year.

Watch for yourself:

"I've worked so hard," she says, crying as her mother wraps her in a hug.

Anyone who follows Ell on Instagram knows it's true that she has worked hard. By her count, the 2018 Taste of Country RISER has been on 150 flights so far in 2018, frequently traveling between countries, states and cities to play a show in an arena, theater or club. True story: the RISERS video shoot started at 6AM because that's the only time Ell had free on her calendar.

Madeline Merlo, Jess Moskaluke, Meghan Patrick and Shania Twain join Ell in the Female Artist of the Year category. Albums from Patrick, Moskaluke, Brett Kissel and the Washboard Union join The Project in the Ford Album of the Year category. The 2018 CCMA Awards take place in Hamilton, Ont., Canada, on Sept. 9. Twain will be the show's host.